991 research outputs found
Characterization of soil heavy metal pools in paddy fields in Taiwan: chemical extraction and solid-solution partitioning
Ongoing industrialization has resulted in an accumulation of metals like Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Pb in paddy fields across Southeast Asia. Risks of metals in soils depend on soil properties and the availability of metals in soil. At present, however, limited information is available on how to measure or predict the directly available fraction of metals in paddy soils. Here, the distribution of Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Pb in 19 paddy fields among the total, reactive, and directly available pools was measured using recently developed concepts for aerated soils. Solid-solution partitioning models have been derived to predict the directly available metal pool. Such models are proven to be useful for risk assessment and to derive soil quality standards for aerated soils. Soil samples (0-25 cm) were taken from 19 paddy fields from five different communities in Taiwan in 2005 and 2006. Each field was subdivided into 60 to 108 plots resulting in a database of approximately 3,200 individual soil samples. Total (Aqua Regia (AR)), reactive (0.43 M HNO3, 0.1 M HCl, and 0.05 M EDTA), and directly available metal pools (0.01 M CaCl2) were determined. Solid-solution partitioning models were derived by multiple linear regressions using an extended Freundlich equation using the reactive metal pool, pH, and the cation exchange capacity (CEC). The influence of Zn on metal partitioning and differences between both sampling events (May/November) were evaluated. Total metals contents range from background levels to levels in excess of current soil quality standards for arable land. Between 3% (Cr) and 30% (Cd) of all samples exceed present soil quality standards based on extraction with AR. Total metal levels decreased with an increasing distance from the irrigation water inlet. The reactive metal pool relative to the total metal content is increased in the order C
Study on the Activity of PI3K/AKT, Death Receptor and 14-3-3 Mediated Signaling Pathways Regulating Hepatocyte Apoptosis during Rat Liver Regeneration
Studies have shown that apoptosis is closely related to the rat liver regeneration. To understand the mechanism of hepatocyte apoptosis during rat liver regeneration at the gene transcription level, the Rat Genome 230 2.0 Array was used to determine the expression changes of genes. Then the genes associated with cell apoptosis were searched by GO and NCBI databases, and cell apoptosis signaling pathways were searched by the database of QIAGEN and KEGG. Their signaling activities were calculated by spectral function E(t). The mechanism of hepatocyte apoptosis during rat liver regeneration was analyzed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis 9.0 (IPA). The results showed that among the 27 signaling pathways regulating cell apoptosis, the E(t) values of Apoptosis signaling pathway and 14-3-3 mediated signaling pathway were significantly increased in the progression phase (6-72h after PH) of rat liver regeneration, and the E(t) values of hepatocyte apoptosis mediated by mitochondria rout were also significantly increased. The E(t) values of death receptor signaling pathway and PI3K/AKT branch of 14-3-3 mediated signaling pathway were significantly increased in the progression phase and the terminal phase (72-168h after PH) of rat liver regeneration, and the E(t) values of hepatocyte apoptosis mediated by cytomembrane route and nucleus route were also significantly increased. Conclusion: PI3K/AKT, death receptor and mitochondria branch played a key role in promoting cell apoptosis during rat liver regeneration
Theoretical and experimental investigations on conformal polishing of microstructured surfaces
Microstructured surfaces play a pivotal role in various fields, notably in lighting, diffuser devices, and imaging systems. The performance of these components is intricately related to the accuracy of their shapes and the quality of their surfaces. Although current precision machining technologies are capable of achieving conformal shapes, the post-machining surface quality often remains uncertain. To appropriately address this challenge, this paper introduces a novel conformal polishing methodology, specifically designed to enhance the surface quality of microstructured surfaces while maintaining their shape accuracy. As part of the investigations, specialized tools, namely the damping tool and profiling damping tool, are methodically developed for polishing rectangular and cylindrical surfaces. A shape evolution model is established based on the simulation of individual microstructures, incorporating the concept of finite-slip on the microstructured surface. The findings reveal that principal stresses and velocities experience abrupt variations at the convex and concave corners of rectangular surfaces as well as at the ends of cylindrical surfaces. The numerically predicted surface shape errors after polishing demonstrate reasonably good agreement with experimental results such that their discrepancies are less than 1 μm. Additionally, this method is able to successfully eradicate pre-machining imperfections such as residual tool marks and burrs on the microstructured surfaces. The arithmetic roughness (Ra) of the rectangular surface is measured to be an impressively low 0.4 nm, whereas the cylindrical surface exhibits Ra = 6.2 nm. These results clearly emphasize the effectiveness of the conformal polishing method in achieving high-quality surface finishes
Responses of chemical composition, amino acid and fatty acid profiles of breast muscle to dietary crude fibre levels in China Micro-Ducks
The effects of dietary crude fibre (CF) levels on the chemical composition, amino acid (AA) and fatty acid (FA) profiles of breast muscle in male China Micro-ducks (21 - 56 d) were investigated in this study. The birds were randomly allocated to four treatments, of which dietary CF levels were 16.7, 42.6, 77.9 and 101.6 g/kg of dry matter (DM), respectively. No influences on the proportions of crude ash, crude protein, lysine, methionine, threonine, phenylalanine, histidine, arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, serine, cysteine, tyrosine, proline, C12:0, C18:0, C18:1n9, C20:0 and C22:1n9 in muscle were observed across the treatments. Consequently, the concentrations of semi-essential AA, non-essential AA, total AA, aromatic AA and delicious AA in muscle, along with the Δ-9-desaturase (18) index, were not affected by the treatments. Significant lower concentrations of valine, leucine, isoleucine, essential AA, branched-chain AA, C16:1n7 and monounsaturated FA in muscle, along with a lower ratio of branched-chain to aromatic AA, were noted in a dietary treatment with a CF level of 16.7 g/kg DM compared to other dietary treatments. The rise of the dietary CF level significantly increased the proportions of DM, ether extract, gross energy, C18:2n6, C18:3n3, C20:4n6, unsaturated FA, total FA, polyunsaturated FA, n-3 polyunsaturated FA, n-6 polyunsaturated FA, essential FA, and the Δ-9-desaturase (16) index. Furthermore, the rise of the dietary CF level increased the ratios of unsaturated to saturated FA, polyunsaturated to saturated FA, and n-6 to n-3 polyunsaturated FA in muscle. However, it decreased the atherogenic index and the proportions of C14:0, C16:0, and saturated FA significantly. In conclusion, depending largely on dietary levels, CF profoundly and positively influenced the nutritional quality of breast muscle, especially the FA profile.Keywords: China Micro-duck, dietary fibre, fatty acid, nutritional quality of meat, fatty aci
The Intrinsic Dimensionality of Attractiveness: A Study in Face Profiles
The study of human attractiveness with pattern analysis techniques is an emerging research field. One still largely unresolved problem is which are the facial features relevant to attractiveness, how they combine together, and the number of independent parameters required for describing and identifying harmonious faces. In this paper, we present a first study about this problem, applied to face profiles. First, according to several empirical results, we hypothesize the existence of two well separated manifolds of attractive and unattractive face profiles. Then, we analyze with manifold learning techniques their intrinsic dimensionality. Finally, we show that the profile data can be reduced, with various techniques, to the intrinsic dimensions, largely without loosing their ability to discriminate between attractive and unattractive face
Study on the Activity of PI3K/AKT, Death Receptor and 14-3-3 Mediated Signaling Pathways Regulating Hepatocyte Apoptosis during Rat Liver Regeneration
Studies have shown that apoptosis is closely related to the rat liver regeneration. To understand the mechanism of hepatocyte apoptosis during rat liver regeneration at the gene transcription level, the Rat Genome 230 2.0 Array was used to determine the expression changes of genes. Then the genes associated with cell apoptosis were searched by GO and NCBI databases, and cell apoptosis signaling pathways were searched by the database of QIAGEN and KEGG. Their signaling activities were calculated by spectral function E(t). The mechanism of hepatocyte apoptosis during rat liver regeneration was analyzed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis 9.0 (IPA). The results showed that among the 27 signaling pathways regulating cell apoptosis, the E(t) values of Apoptosis signaling pathway and 14-3-3 mediated signaling pathway were significantly increased in the progression phase (6-72h after PH) of rat liver regeneration, and the E(t) values of hepatocyte apoptosis mediated by mitochondria rout were also significantly increased. The E(t) values of death receptor signaling pathway and PI3K/AKT branch of 14-3-3 mediated signaling pathway were significantly increased in the progression phase and the terminal phase (72-168h after PH) of rat liver regeneration, and the E(t) values of hepatocyte apoptosis mediated by cytomembrane route and nucleus route were also significantly increased. Conclusion: PI3K/AKT, death receptor and mitochondria branch played a key role in promoting cell apoptosis during rat liver regeneration
Spin Glasses on Thin Graphs
In a recent paper we found strong evidence from simulations that the
Isingantiferromagnet on ``thin'' random graphs - Feynman diagrams - displayed
amean-field spin glass transition. The intrinsic interest of considering such
random graphs is that they give mean field results without long range
interactions or the drawbacks, arising from boundary problems, of the Bethe
lattice. In this paper we reprise the saddle point calculations for the Ising
and Potts ferromagnet, antiferromagnet and spin glass on Feynman diagrams. We
use standard results from bifurcation theory that enable us to treat an
arbitrary number of replicas and any quenched bond distribution. We note the
agreement between the ferromagnetic and spin glass transition temperatures thus
calculated and those derived by analogy with the Bethe lattice, or in previous
replica calculations. We then investigate numerically spin glasses with a plus
or minus J bond distribution for the Ising and Q=3,4,10,50 state Potts models,
paying particular attention to the independence of the spin glass transition
from the fraction of positive and negative bonds in the Ising case and the
qualitative form of the overlap distribution in all the models. The parallels
with infinite range spin glass models in both the analytical calculations and
simulations are pointed out.Comment: 13 pages of LaTex and 11 postscript figures bundled together with
uufiles. Discussion of first order transitions for three or more replicas
included and similarity to Ising replica magnet pointed out. Some additional
reference
Tree method for quantum vortex dynamics
We present a numerical method to compute the evolution of vortex filaments in
superfluid helium. The method is based on a tree algorithm which considerably
speeds up the calculation of Biot-Savart integrals. We show that the
computational cost scales as Nlog{(N) rather than N squared, where is the
number of discretization points. We test the method and its properties for a
variety of vortex configurations, ranging from simple vortex rings to a
counterflow vortex tangle, and compare results against the Local Induction
Approximation and the exact Biot-Savart law.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
The sensitivity of the vortex filament method to different reconnection models
We present a detailed analysis on the effect of using different algorithms to
model the reconnection of vortices in quantum turbulence, using the
thin-filament approach. We examine differences between four main algorithms for
the case of turbulence driven by a counterflow. In calculating the velocity
field we use both the local induction approximation (LIA) and the full
Biot-Savart integral. We show that results of Biot-Savart simulations are not
sensitive to the particular reconnection method used, but LIA results are.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Entanglement Transfer via XXZ Heisenberg chain with DM Interaction
The role of spin-orbit interaction, arises from the Dzyaloshinski-Moriya
anisotropic antisymmetric interaction, on the entanglement transfer via an
antiferromagnetic XXZ Heisenberg chain is investigated. From symmetrical point
of view, the XXZ Hamiltonian with Dzyaloshinski-Moriya interaction can be
replaced by a modified XXZ Hamiltonian which is defined by a new exchange
coupling constant and rotated Pauli operators. The modified coupling constant
and the angle of rotations are depend on the strength of Dzyaloshinski-Moriya
interaction. In this paper we study the dynamical behavior of the entanglement
propagation through a system which is consist of a pair of maximally entangled
spins coupled to one end of the chain. The calculations are performed for the
ground state and the thermal state of the chain, separately. In both cases the
presence of this anisotropic interaction make our channel more efficient, such
that the speed of transmission and the amount of the entanglement are improved
as this interaction is switched on. We show that for large values of the
strength of this interaction a large family of XXZ chains becomes efficient
quantum channels, for whole values of an isotropy parameter in the region .Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure
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